Ukraine opens corridors out of Mariupol

Seven humanitarian corridors will be opened on Tuesday, including from the besieged port city of Mariupol and the Russian-controlled Berdyansk, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

According to Vereshchuk's post on messaging app Telegram, residents of Mariupol and Berdyansk will be able to leave to Zaporizhzhia on their own transport.

Corridors will also be open from the city of Tokmak in the Zaporizhzhia region and cities of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna and Hirske in the Luhansk region.

Vereshchuk said the Russian troops “don't allow anyone to enter Mariupol”, and that the Russians “blocked the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross” in the settlement of Manhush just west of Mariupol.

Vereshchuk said that after negotiations the Red Cross representatives “were released at night and sent to Zaporizhzhia”.

It was not immediately clear from Vereshchuk's statement whether Russia had agreed to halt the fighting along the announced corridors.

Some of the Ukrainian efforts to evacuate civilians via humanitarian corridors had previously failed as fighting along them continued despite agreements with Russia.